The Roman Catholic community in northeastern Ukrainian Chernihiv celebrated Christmas this year (25 December 2002) on the ground floor of the new cathedral that they were allowed to build after an almost ten-year struggle with the city authorities. Services had been held in the small basement of the priest’s house.
In spring 2002, a new city council passed a decision to allot a new 0.28-hectare area for the local Roman Catholic community to build a church. Since then, the foundation for a new cathedral has been laid and the ground floor built, which made a wonderful present for the local Catholic community.